[..] Much has been said and done over the last decades to blame the gay people for AIDS. Many people (including many gay people) cling to the medieval idea that AIDS is like some angel of death who visits some houses but not others. It is just a virus. There are steps that can be taken to at least rationalize one's response to it. Knowing whether or not you carry the virus is an excellent first step. [..]
I belong to the generation where AIDS is still very present in people's minds, but does not appear as diabolic as 15 years ago. New medicines have braught a significant improvement in health situation of patients. This is good, but has caused an unwanted (social) side-effect, that many people do not care as much as before about the still very deadly disease, and numbers of newly infected men and women are rising again (in Germany).
While discussing HIV and AIDS, we often do not separate between the epidemological aspects (spread of the virus) and the effects the infection has on the particular individual. Mostly the discussion concentrates on the issue of proliferation - in this context the best strategy to protect oneselve and the partner is using appropriate preservatives and know what kind of lubricant shall be used etc. Knowing one's own HIV status and the status of the partner is irrelevant in case of casual contacts, because of the long latence period of the virus before it can be detected - a freshly-tested partner with "negative" status might be very well carrier of HI-Virus. Therefore having unprotected sex with a casual partner is a very bad idea, him being tested or not. Long-term partners with no sexual activities outside of their bond might consider unprotected sex if they are sure about each other, but the experience teaches us that most men can't be really trusted - that's why so many "innocent" married women get infected.
After all, it's just a virus - one can decrease the risk of being infected, but not eliminate it.
And here we come to the individual and his health. In first line, an individual is responsible for one's own health - timely knowing about various diseases is essential for their effective treatment. The sense of knowing one's HIV status is in first line the timely treatment of AIDS.
[..] Physicians routinely omit HIV testing from their examinations unless they have reason to believe the disease is already present. HIV test results that are the product of visits to hospitals or doctors become part of the medical records and these records can and have been used by businesses to deny people health insurance or even employment. This may be a reason to avoid discussing HIV with one's regular doctor, but it is not a license for continued ignorance. [..]
Certainly, the first step can be getting tested anonymously in some of the health centers. But still the question remains, what to do next? If one is infected, sooner or later one must go to the physician and begin the appropriate treatment.
Now, the situation in the US and Germany is somewhat different. In my country, no employer is allowed even to ask you about your health status, unless you intend to perform some hard physical labour. Similarly, the problem of missing medical insurance is close to being completely eliminated - most employees and unemployed persons have compulsory insurances, and cannot be rejected by any reason. I know that this is very different in the US, and it's a shame that the richest country in the world can't provide many of its citizens with basic health care. We have currently another problem here - life insurance are routinely denied to all assumingly homosexual males. Of course, everybody shall consider his individual circumstances - as we know, in some countries it is highly dangerous to be known as HIV-carrier.
> Aehem... ufgh... isn't it better simply to
> go regularly to your doctor
> and test your health for any disease?
Oh, that's right, we only need go to our national health care system for regular care.
Pshaw! Let those people without insurance in capitalist countries try to swallow that!!!
Here I completely agree with K6 - it is a pity that social support in the US is on a medieval level, but it is not my fault. Even though, generally citizens of the US enjoy much better medical supply than citizens of many other countries - India, Indonesia and the entire Africa are few to be mentioned. There people die not only from AIDS, but even from Cholera - a disease caused by drinking water or eating some food. As you see, it is meaningless whether you are gay or straight, impersonated goodness or a flit - there are enough germs to make you ill. Most progress in medicines is made by tecnical achievements and general wealth - not by individual precautions (though there are few which are good to know).